1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, and an image processing method, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, and an image processing method for performing image processing to save color-material consumption.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when a test output is generated for checking a layout of an output image in image forming apparatuses that form images using a color material such as toner or ink, many users do not much care about the quality of the output image. In this case, it is rather desirable to form an image under the condition of reducing color material usage to some extent and to save the color material usage. For example, if an image is an ordinary document image, even if the color material usage is reduced by about 10% to 20% with respect to the color material usage required to output an original document image by thinning dots, the reduction does not much affect readability of text in the output image. Moreover, even if an image contains graphics such as a figure and a graph, the reduction of the color material by about 10% to 20% rarely causes image degradation to such an extent that it becomes difficult to read.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H07-314783 discloses an image forming apparatus that forms an image under the condition of executing a color-material saving mode according to the necessity and of saving the color material more than that of a normal case. This configuration allows saving of the color material usage by executing the color-material saving mode according to user's requirements.
However, this configuration may give a false impression to a person viewing the output image that the image is handled by a low-performance device. Specifically, a method of saving the color material includes various methods such as a method of thinning dots using a dither method or the like, and a method of reducing a toner adhesion amount per dot using pulse width modulation and light amount control of writing. Even if any of the methods is used, the quality of the image, of which color material amount is reduced more than the original one by the method, decreases as compared with the original image. If a person does not recognize that the image is formed in the color-material saving mode and views the image, the low image quality may give the false impression as explained above to the person. For example, there is a case in offices in which an administrator having the right to change condition settings of the image forming apparatus sets the color-material saving mode but users other than the administrator perform image output without recognizing the setting.
Also in a case where a material output in the color-material saving mode is distributed to those who attend a conference, almost no attendees recognize that the distributed material is formed in the color-material saving mode. For example, when original image information is converted to image information for saving the color material and is transmitted by a facsimile machine, the quality of the image output from a facsimile machine in the receiver side becomes low. The receiver does not recognize that the output image is formed based on the image information converted to save the color material, and therefore, the receiver may misunderstand that the facsimile machine in the transmitter side is low in performance.